A Community Of Caring

Named after the movie, the Caddyshack Revisited Benefit Golf Tournament recently collected $120,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Davie.

That total -- double what was raised last year -- will help more than 2,000 at-risk children, said Matthew Organ, director of special events and marketing for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County.

"This will enable the staff to enhance the programs we already offer like homework help and computer classes," he said. "Membership fees are only $15 a year, so this money can keep it that way, affordable so any child can attend."

The tournament got its name because Caddyshack was filmed at what was then Rolling Hills golf club, now called Grande Oaks, said Todd Templin, spokesman for Windmill Reserve, a home community in Weston that sponsored this year's event.

"When the co-chairs [of the golf tournament] approached the developers, Victor Posner Enterprises, they thought it was a great cause, especially today with so many kids on the streets. [The club] gives them a safe place."

The second annual event brought together 128 golfers. All of the money raised will go to Davie Boys & Girls Clubs: the Florence A. DeGeorge unit, the Rick and Rita Case unit, and the Admiral's Club, which is expected to open soon.

"One hundred percent of the money is going to the kids because all of the sponsorships were sold out by June, so there was no overhead," Organ said. "The co-chairs, Kathi Barnhart, Jim Norton and Rita Case, did a great job of getting the event underwritten."

Hope Outreach Center event nets $40,000

Operating out of a Davie storefront, Hope Outreach Center offers assistance to people in southwest Broward County who have fallen upon difficult times.

It relies on a mostly all-volunteer organization and has limited funds, according to executive director Helen Shinner.

That's where fund-raisers such as the annual Frank D'Andrea Golf Classic Dinner and Auction come in.

On a recent Friday, 40 golf teams played at the Fort Lauderdale Country Club in Plantation, and 240 people attended the dinner. Those who participated in both events paid $125 each, while dinner alone cost $35.

After raising $35,000 last year, the goal this year was $50,000, according to board member Teri Bresnahan. "But because of the hurricanes, we still did pretty well and made $40,000."

The center offers services such as a food pantry, elderly companionship and visitations, employment information and referrals, and an after-school program.

For more information, visit www.hope-outreach.org or call 954-321-0909.

"A Community of Caring," an occasional Sunday column, provides a rundown of area golf tournaments, walkathons and 5K runs and the goals they have achieved. Send information on these types of events to Leslie Ellenbogen Vogel by e-mail to lesliejev@prodigy.net or fax to 954-436-6362, labeled "A Community of Caring."